Chapter 17 #2
How dare he say that? How dare he make her feel like the villain for not forgiving him on command? As if forgiveness was a button you pressed, not something you earned. As if second chances came without scars.
But the more honest voice, the one deep inside her, whispered what she didn’t want to admit.
Forgiveness didn’t come easily to her. Not because she was proud. Not because she liked holding grudges. But because offering someone a second chance felt like tearing open a door she’d kept bolted shut for most of her life.
Every time she even thought about forgiveness and second chances, it felt like she was bargaining with fate.
She knew where it came from. She always had.
But it was the one place inside her she refused to go.
A wound so old and so deep it had calcified into silence.
She had never spoken about it. Not to anyone.
Not even to her uncle, the only family she had left.
There were things in her past that made forgiveness feel dangerous. And so, instead of reaching for healing, she held on to control. Because control was safer than vulnerability. Safer than love.
And now here was Kushal, standing right in front of that closed door, knocking hard, demanding she open it without knowing what it cost her to keep it locked.
She wasn’t angry at him.
She was angry at herself.
Because some part of her wanted to open that door. Wanted to believe him and give life a chance.
But she couldn’t.
“Arundhati?”
The familiar female voice startled her from the fog. She turned and blinked.
Walking toward her was a woman in blue denims, white top, and a maroon shawl with a knowing smile.
“Ananya?” Arundhati’s face lit up in surprise. Ananya Mathur…no, Mrs. Ananya Chopra was here. One of her clients in the past.
They embraced each other. “What are you doing here?” Arundhati asked, pulling back.
“I should be asking you that,” Ananya teased. “What is the Arundhati Verma doing at a romantic mountain resort? The fierce, sharp-tongued, stone-cold divorce lawyer with zero tolerance for nonsense—you? At such a romantic place?”
Arundhati blinked. “Is that really how people describe me?”
Ananya grinned. “Yes. Apart from being smart, stylish, terrifying in court, always in control, and allergic to sentiment. So, yeah, pretty much that’s what everyone says about you.”
Arundhati forced a laugh but couldn’t help the sting. Is that what people saw? A woman incapable of softness? She quickly shook off the thought. “I’m here for work,” she said simply.
“And I’m here for a weekend getaway,” Ananya beamed.
Arundhati raised an eyebrow. “A solo getaway?”
“Oh god, no. With Rajveer.”
Arundhati’s lips curled into a knowing smile.
That name brought back memories. Rajveer and Ananya were childhood rivals turned into reluctant spouses.
Neighbours in Delhi, infamous for bickering like sworn enemies, their parents had married them off more in hope than logic.
He had moved to Australia, she to New York.
Even after marriage, they lived apart for ten months, barely speaking except to argue.
Their marriage had been a marriage of convenience on paper and a disaster in practice.
When they decided on a divorce, it wasn’t dramatic. It was mutual. Arundhati had represented Ananya. Kushal, ironically, had been Rajveer’s lawyer.
But something shifted. Living under the same roof again during the cooling-off period, childhood resentment had morphed into playful banter, and then into something much hotter, much harder to ignore. Passion had bloomed where none was expected.
And then one day, Arundhati got a call from Ananya saying she wanted to call off the divorce.
That she was flying to Australia to chase down the man she once hated…
because now she couldn’t imagine her life without him.
Turns out, the person who annoys you the most might just be the one who understands you best.
Ananya clicked her fingers in front of Arundhati’s face, dragging her out of her thoughts. “Hey, you look completely zoned out.”
Arundhati forced a smile and shook her head. “Nothing. Just... the weather.”
Ananya wasn’t convinced. She gently took Arundhati’s hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze. “We never really spoke after that last call, did we? I guess it must’ve come as a shock to you... me suddenly saying I didn’t want the divorce.”
Arundhati nodded slowly. “It did. I mean, you were so sure when we filed. So clear-headed. I honestly didn’t expect the U-turn.”
“I didn’t expect it either,” Ananya admitted, her eyes sparkling with something more honest than words. “But life... well, it had other plans.”
Just then, Rajveer walked up from behind, a little surprised to see Arundhati standing there. “Hey,” he greeted, then casually slipped his arms around Ananya’s waist and pulled her in. She leaned into him without hesitation, the kind of closeness that didn’t need to be explained.
Watching them, so effortlessly in sync, so quietly in love, brought a strange tightness to Arundhati’s chest. She wasn’t envious, exactly.
In fact, a part of her felt proud. As a divorce lawyer, she and Kushal had always told couples to try everything before giving up. To fight for what was worth saving.
And here they were—Ananya and Rajveer. Proof that love didn’t always end with signatures and stamped court papers. Proof that sometimes, letting someone back in wasn’t foolish... it was brave.
She swallowed hard.
And then, as if summoned by thought alone, Kushal walked in.
He paused, too, when he saw Rajveer and Ananya, his brow lifting in pleasant surprise. “Well, this is unexpected,” he said with a grin.
“Kushal!” Rajveer greeted, pulling him into a warm hug. “Man, it’s been forever.”
“It has,” Kushal agreed, clapping him on the back.
Ananya turned toward Arundhati, a glint of mischief in her eyes. She looked at the two of them, standing close, and something clicked.
She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Wait... What happened with your divorce filing? Please tell me you two are rethinking about it.”
Arundhati stiffened.
Kushal glanced sideways at her as Ananya continued, almost pleading. “I mean, seriously. From the first time we met, I don’t know why, but I kept telling Rajveer that you two just fit. Call it a gut feeling. Chemistry. Whatever. But I’ve been rooting for you guys since the start.”
Arundhati looked down for a moment, unable to decide what to say, while Kushal diverted the topic and invited the two for drinks with them.
**************
The games had already begun outside—laughter, cheers, and the sound of champagne glasses clinking floated through the garden as couples playfully competed under fairy lights and fire pits.
But at one table, tucked into a quieter corner of the resort’s lounge area, four people sat away from the frenzy…
Two pairs, once tangled in divorce proceedings, now having something deeper.
Kushal and Arundhati sat side by side, though neither looked at the other. Across the table sat Rajveer and Ananya, fingers entwined, hands resting on the table like they were made to stay connected. That one simple gesture somehow made both Kushal and Arundhati restless.
Rajveer had just finished recounting a story from their earlier court days when he smiled and tightened his hold on Ananya’s hand. “After we called off the divorce,” he said, glancing at her, “I decided to move to New York permanently. For her.”
Ananya looked at him with warmth in her eyes. He continued, “She was going to shift to Australia since my firm is headquartered there, but I didn’t want her to make such a big sacrifice. One of us giving in was enough. Who did it first... that doesn’t matter anymore.”
Arundhati sipped her wine, listening with a heavy heart.
Rajveer smiled and added, “So I sold the Melbourne penthouse. Had to invest somewhere, right? Guess what…we bought one in Delhi.”
That caught Kushal’s interest. He leaned forward. “Where?”
“Skyline Vantage,” Rajveer replied with pride. “We’ve been living there on and off. Waiting for my New York project to kick off.”
Kushal blinked. “Wait—Skyline Vantage? As in, Tower 3?”
Rajveer nodded. “Yup. Tower 3, East Wing. Corner unit.”
Kushal stared at him for a beat, something slowly clicking into place. “There are only two penthouses in that tower,” he murmured. “One’s still on the market... and the other—”
Rajveer cut in, grinning. “Ours. We bought it. And we’ve been living there the past few months whenever we’re in India.”
Kushal leaned back slowly, a look of disbelief spreading across his face as he turned to Arundhati. “They’re the couple,” he said quietly. “The ones I told you about... the ones across from our place.”
Arundhati was surprised. She remembered vividly standing on the balcony of Kushal’s penthouse, watching a couple on the opposite terrace laugh, kiss, cling to each other like the world didn’t exist. That fire, that intimacy…it had left a mark on her, even then.
Rajveer and Ananya exchanged confused glances. “They are the couple?” Rajveer asked. “What couple?”
Kushal waved it off with a dry smirk. “Nothing. Just... your PDA at that height could give anyone emotional vertigo.”
Rajveer asked, still puzzled. “Hold on. How could you see all that?”
Kushal looked at him like it was obvious. “Because my penthouse is just a few blocks away, opposite Skyline Vantage.”
Rajveer’s eyes widened as realization hit him. “Shit—you live near us?”
Kushal shrugged with a casual sip of his drink.
Ananya laughed while Rajveer groaned, turning to Ananya. “Told you people watch us.”
“Oh come on,” Ananya said, nudging him. “Since when do you have a problem with public displays of affection?”
“We’ll tone it down next time,” Rajveer said with mock seriousness. “Don’t want to traumatize the neighbours.”
Kushal chuckled, but his eyes slid back to Arundhati.
She wasn’t laughing.